Minimalist Plaid Quilt

Happy October! My favorite month of the year. Glamour shots in the wild for the Minimalist Plaid quilt. Finished with a scrappy solid binding as I have done for all of my quilts in 2020. 

Nearly 8 months later, this quilt is finally done, original post here. The majority of the time was spent at the longarmer while I finished up my California State Fair quilt. I used up all of my plaid wovens on the top and all of my flannel fabric on the backing.  

My local hospice thrift shop is so popular, they have to close periodically because they are full from donations. The best stuff is when the rack are rolled onto the floor. I grabbed what appeared to be the contents of a sewing case. I would have spent $4.99 for just the patterns since they are all retro. I will share those 4 pattern packets I scored on an upcoming post. The bonus was the thread, some Gutermann and metallic. 

Fun Find of the Day $6.99 at thrift, this original NyForm Troll, retail tagged at $77.50. Truly vintage, I can't decide if he is creepy or cute. Sometimes a troll enters your life, thankfully this one was made of plastic and fake fur. 

Pattern of the Day from 1972, posting in Plaid!

I will start queueing up my Countdown to Christmas posts, hoping to fill out all 25 days in the month for the celebration. I have gathered enough holiday CDs for 25 days of What I'm Listening To. 

Linking up with Cynthia quiltingismorefunthanhousework for:

Fear Holds Us Back

Something as simple as threading a bobbin, I was afraid to attempt on my vintage machine. In the grander scheme of things once we are through this worldwide disaster, we shouldn't be afraid to live once again. Maybe there will be modifications to our lifestyles. It seems the Mr. and I have been preparing for this change all of our lives. We tend to be isolationists (the Mr. more so than me). We each have projects at home where we tend to lose track of time. That bobbin winder, it works perfectly. 

Minimalist plaid quilt top and backing are now sandwiched. This project used up nearly all of my plaid wovens and nearly all of my flannel stash. I admit I indulged in retail therapy. I had to return the bobbin winder after getting the Franklin machine up and running, and Joann's was open. We continue to be a Covid-free county. It was a great day to be at that retailer because I pulled all half off fabrics or more and they were giving away end of bolt, normally they charge 50% of that remnant. The plaid deer fabric will be the binding. 

Reseller's update: I am moving forward on listing CDs for sale. A sleepless night found me buying CD mailers online around midnight. All of my listings on Ebay had been auction but the company has offered a store subscriber promotion of 50,000 Fixed Price listings. Boy howdy, I am letting them all loose now. 
Needlework kits are selling slow but sure. I figured there was a market for those pre-disaster. 

It took me 3 hours to just photograph what I have to post for sale.  That doesn't include image editing either. I hope it will pay off eventually. I have more of the mindset that selling a lot of little things is just as good as selling one big thing. I pulled cookbooks I never use (why not list them?) and all of those Christmas CDs. 

Keeping busy and taking frequent outside breaks have been my method to stay healthy and happy.  

Dark Days and Crafting Away

Life has certainly been interesting for us all. The Mr. has always been a prepper. What is the Boy Scout's motto? Be Prepared. I picked up this book for resale, it seemed appropriate. I think it will sell. 

I may soon be working from home for an indefinite amount of time. I am just awaiting word. Not delving into the whole situation, but worth a mention. I think there will be a legion of shut-ins. 

Segueing into what I blog most about thrifting, quilting, and a smattering of gardening. 

I picked up at thrift a high grade photographer's tripod for $3. No more shaky images! This weekend's finds included a couple of records, a few CDs, a button book, and some men's clothing at $1 each. The latter I buy to see if it will fit my son, or get credit at Freestyle, a clothing reseller. 

The best of the bunch to me was the $3 bag of Girl Scout items, especially the daisy patches. I could put those on a quilt or mini-quilt. The flag emblems are the bomb too!


Reseller's update: The Art of French Cooking sold. I think the project kits will sell too, with special mention to shut-ins. A Grandmother's Flower Garden partially completed quilt kit will sell too, there is a bid, but I will take a loss. I bought it at auction but when I got it, there was no "spark" of joy. Then sometimes I have reseller's remorse and I un-list items I have for sale. I have done that more than once with kits and books. 

Here is a post on Facebook from Renee Kropat at the Up-Cycled Cloth Collective highlighting one of her creations and the following:
Since my hubby and I are in that older age category that this virus could hurt us, we have stayed out of crowds, do outside walks and one can find me in my studio. Found a twenty year old craft pattern. Using scraps and odds and ends ( I may not have followed the instructions completely) but I like this little guy. Mouse, bear, who knows? I suspect I will get a lot of sewing / crafts done in the next few weeks. Be well all. Glad this group is here.

That is the reason I am going to start listing the craft patterns and keep those kits listed for sale. Creative people will continue to create as an outlet for difficult times. 

Greenhouse update: I will be planting strawberries and onions in the center bed. The artichoke survived its move. I have yet to see if the rhubarb will revive. 

I usually lead off with quilting so I will end with the minimalist plaid quilt flimsy. I took the image in the rain, a much-needed commodity in California. My day involves completing the backing and putting it in the sandwich stage. My Babylok should be ready by the end of the month. I have 2 quilts to bind and 3 to quilt (including this one) in the queue. 

The IGquiltfest continues on Instagram where I am posting as tamaschen. 

I am benefiting from Grandmillenial Style

I had not been a fan of the vintage sewing machines I had collected. Even after oiling and coaxing, I could never get them to work (I have 3 of them). My two-month sewing hiatus came to end when I pulled out the cast iron Franklin I have had for quite some time. With my Babylok still in repair, I was highly motivated in learning how to use it. Luckily, I found a YouTube video on threading it (I never would have guessed the way it is done) and did a short snip. I will be doing more videos because there are so few on vintage machines. 

The Franklin had been oiled and all parts were in working order. I promptly created a flimsy with my plaid wovens. I will finish it with a scrappy plaid border. I may add another border to the side, pushing it into king-sized.

The threaded Franklin

Tub o' Plaids

My two-month hiatus also gave me a new patience in rehabilitating a retro quilt block. My first attempt was unsuccessful, I didn't cut the pieces large enough. It was also around the holidays so I had other things crowding in on my time and attention. 

Before

After

I decided to go with gray, rather than cream. I was so pleased with myself. It is not perfection, but it means that series of blocks that I bought thrift will finally comprise an entire quilt top. I was one block short of 20. 

I trimmed them all to 15" square. Some had to be rehabilitated by adding fabric, others were a little larger so I had to trim into the stars. 

HGTV featured an article grandmillennial-style-2020-design-trend-pictures. Part of that trend is bringing back "knick knacks," with a style described as those who love "wicker, chintz and needlepoint." The majority of the items that I have for sale are needlework kits. My newest up for sale is this 1984 Autumn Bouquet kit by Creative Expressions. 

I will be out "sourcing" later today and picking up an automatic bobbin winder since I can't figure out how to do that on the Franklin. 

Craft Project Denial

I had teased one participant of the American Patchwork & Quilting 2020 UFO Challenge that she had the courage to list all of her projects. She had at least 3 full charts, maybe more. 

I knew I had more than 12 projects. In fact, I have at least 26. I added back a project from last year's list, my bonus item at the bottom of Chart 1, The Americana. I only have this source image from a quilt magazine from the 1970s. Look at those magnificent blocks! One quilter termed projects such as this - Quilts in Waiting.

Then came my second chart where I included two new projects that were born this year, Grandmother's Flower Garden on Steroids and the red Vintage Vignettes quilt. 

I listed ALL of my needlepoint projects - 7. I included another bonus item on Chart 2 of the plaid quilt. If I feel particularly frisky when I start that project, I will attempt the Storm at Sea pattern. Otherwise, it will be minimalist, piecing together the remnants as they are then squaring up to a final bed-size. 

I have found another challenge where I hope to have at least one entry for prizes. At Persimmon Dreams kimlapacek.com/scrap-quilt-challenge
The host provides the inspiration block, January is a 9 patch. Quilters then have a year to link up a completed quilt for potential prizes. Minimum size is 45" x 60" and must be compiled of 80% scrappy remnants. 


Reselling update: 26 listings, made my goal of at least 5+ weekend listings that include: Batik quilt kit, stitchery kits, a book and 3 CDs, and some yardage. I have a better camera than when I first listed fabric so we will see if that makes a difference.